According to Lincoln Center's new LCT3 project at its slogan, it takes "New Audiences for New Artists." It also takes new critics, hence the establishment of Theater Talk's New Theater Corps in 2005, a way for up-and-coming theater writers and eager new theatergoers to get exposure to the ever-growing theater scene in New York City. Writers for the New Theater Corps are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the off-off and off-Broadway theater scene, learning and giving back high-quality reviews at the same time. Driven by a passion and love of the arts, the New Theater Corps aims to identify, support, and grow the arts community, one show and one person at a time.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Badge

This dark comedy slips a stitch in its second act with the tale of a stunted adolescent.

By Ellen Wernecke

“You’re 28 and you’re still in the Boy Scouts?” That pretty much sums up Roy (Greg McFadden), the protagonist of “Badge” at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Roy lives to earn his badges even as his scout master (Darrell James) is looking for a way to politely tell him he’s too old. When a gorgeous drifter (Tara Falk) shows up to borrow some money, Roy gets a little distracted for the first time since his last girlfriend killed herself. It’s enough to distract him from his new house-cleaning job on the Upper East Side… and maybe from his meds.

“Badge” packs the stage with jollies aplenty, but when these crazier characters take the stage, “Badge” sputters to a halt. Roy, as addled as he is, can’t compete with the scenery-chewing former socialite (Glynis Bell) and the blustering cop (James again). He just can’t hold his own, and as he fades, so does our interest. Having seen the entire play, this seems to be writer Matthew Schneck’s point; but Roy’s peculiar foibles are never completely explained or even fully explored.